SL captain blames batters after humiliating loss to Afghanistan

Sri Lankan players walk off after Afghan batters complete routing (ICC Twitter)

Sri Lanka lost their 2022 Asia Cup opener, going down to Afghanistan in Dubai by eight wickets in a one-sided affair.

Put into bat upfront, the Dasun Shanaka-led side found themselves at 5-3 inside the first two overs of the match. Eventually getting shot out for just 105, an insurgent Afghanistan unit hunted down the meagre total in just 10.1 overs to register their opening Group B points of the tournament.

Captain Shanaka questions his batters’ preparation

The Sri Lankan captain lamented his team’s batting approach against the Afghan bowlers, especially while facing new-ball pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi.

Shanaka claimed that losing their top three in the first two overs of their innings set the tone for the rest of the match. He added that their failures to put up top-order partnerships has been their problem for the past two years.

“It was the first two overs that changed the whole situation. It's been a concern over the past two years that we haven't had partnerships upfront. That's where we should be concerned. When you lose two wickets in the first over, and four inside the powerplay, it's really hard to get back into the game.”

Asia Cup 2022: A road ahead for Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka will now face Bangladesh in a must-win game on September 1 at the same venue. According to captain Shanaka, facing Shakib al Hasan’s side will be a lot easier as compared to their opening face-off against Afghanistan.

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